Man Mistakenly Buried In California Body Mix-up Is Exhumed

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 15: Headstones are surrounded by dead grass at the Presidio National Cemetery on July 15, 2014 in San Francisco, California. As the severe drought in California contiues to worsen, the State\'s landscape and many resident\'s lawns are turning brown due to lack of rain and the discontinuation of watering. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)File photo (Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

ORANGE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities have exhumed a man who was mistakenly buried in a Southern California cemetery after a body mix-up.

The Orange County Register says the coffin of John Dickens was unearthed Wednesday from Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange. He’ll be cremated and his ashes sent to his mother in Kansas.

The U.S. Army veteran was homeless and suffered from mental illness. He was found dead of an enlarged heart in May outside a store in Fountain Valley.

But coroner’s officials misidentified the body as that of another homeless man, Frank Kerrigan.

Kerrigan’s kin had him buried. Eleven days later, Kerrigan showed up at a family friend’s house, very much alive.

The Sheriff’s Department, which includes the coroner’s division, has apologized for the mix-up and is investigating.